1937 clipping about relief funds for shipwrecks

newspaper clipping

A newspaper clipping titled SHIPWRECKS OF THE PAST/CONTINUED CARE OF DEPENDENTS. It is a report about the status of public disaster relief funds for three different shipwreck disasters, the TITANIC, EMPRESS OF IRELAND, and LUSITANIA. It describes what is left in each fund, the number of people eligible for benefits, and the amount disbursed. It concludes that the funds are being administered "on a strict actuarial basis, and every possible benefit permissible on that basis was conferred on dependents. Each dependent was again given at Midsummer and at Christmas a sum equal to one month's allowance." At the time of these disasters in the second decade of the 20th century, there was very little in the way of a public social safety net for widows and others who had lost a family member and a provider, but a great outpouring of private charity led to creation of these relief funds that supported dependents for many years after.